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ISBN:

9780199486809

Publication date:

31/01/2018

Paperback

266 pages

Tirthankar Roy

This book chronicles how the concept of organizing people to serve economic ends emerged in early modern and colonial India. It examines rules of cooperation, why people decided to join forces, how disputes were settled, and how cooperative communities became increasingly unstable in more modern times. It focuses on five dimensions: actor, agent, time, purpose, and region.

Groups commonly called caste or community played a large role in the economic history of India. Where did their authority come from? What uses were made of it? How did the uses change?
Company of Kinsmen shows that their authority derived from an ancient discourse on statecraft that assured juridical autonomy to professional groups. With that assurance, they controlled scarce resources, negotiated with kings, and made members follow rules. In the 19th century, the colonial state made the guarantee weaker by creating law courts where autonomy could be challenged. At the same time, globalization encouraged new and unorthodox relationships. Yet, ties of caste and community did not dissolve, for people often relied on these ties even more when they did business with unknown people in uncertain environments. Groups survived, while battling challenges from within and without.
This is an indispensable book for scholars, teachers, and students of Indian history and commerce, especially those interested in the history of business organization.

About the Author
Tirthankar Roy is professor of economic history in the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK, and the author of The Economic History of India (3/e 2011).

List of Figures
Preface
Introduction
Indian Society and the Economic History of India
1. Context
Economic history and ‘culture’
2. States
A political theory of the community
3. Merchants
Guild as corporation
4. Artisans
Guild for training
5. Workers
Collective bargaining
6. Peasants
Property and market
Epilogue
Bibliography
Index

‘This book, by a leading economic historian of South Asia, addresses a long-standing problem … that of the dependent or independent role of social organization in the working of an economy … [and] advances our understanding of an important economic region in both the past and the present.’
— Sumit Guha, Journal of Interdisciplinary History
‘The book makes an invaluable contribution to Indian economic history, business history, and global history more generally. It is a welcome addition for scholars working in these fields.’
—Latika Chaudhary, Journal of Economic History
‘[A] real tour de force ... a creditable attempt to present a connected and conceptualized narrative of the great transition in the Indian economy from the eighteenth to the twentieth century.’
—Claude Markovits, Economic History Review

Groups commonly called caste or community played a large role in the economic history of India. Where did their authority come from? What uses were made of it? How did the uses change?
Company of Kinsmen shows that their authority derived from an ancient discourse on statecraft that assured juridical autonomy to professional groups. With that assurance, they controlled scarce resources, negotiated with kings, and made members follow rules. In the 19th century, the colonial state made the guarantee weaker by creating law courts where autonomy could be challenged. At the same time, globalization encouraged new and unorthodox relationships. Yet, ties of caste and community did not dissolve, for people often relied on these ties even more when they did business with unknown people in uncertain environments. Groups survived, while battling challenges from within and without.
This is an indispensable book for scholars, teachers, and students of Indian history and commerce, especially those interested in the history of business organization.

About the Author
Tirthankar Roy is professor of economic history in the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK, and the author of The Economic History of India (3/e 2011).

‘This book, by a leading economic historian of South Asia, addresses a long-standing problem … that of the dependent or independent role of social organization in the working of an economy … [and] advances our understanding of an important economic region in both the past and the present.’
— Sumit Guha, Journal of Interdisciplinary History
‘The book makes an invaluable contribution to Indian economic history, business history, and global history more generally. It is a welcome addition for scholars working in these fields.’
—Latika Chaudhary, Journal of Economic History
‘[A] real tour de force ... a creditable attempt to present a connected and conceptualized narrative of the great transition in the Indian economy from the eighteenth to the twentieth century.’
—Claude Markovits, Economic History Review

List of Figures
Preface
Introduction
Indian Society and the Economic History of India
1. Context
Economic history and ‘culture’
2. States
A political theory of the community
3. Merchants
Guild as corporation
4. Artisans
Guild for training
5. Workers
Collective bargaining
6. Peasants
Property and market
Epilogue
Bibliography
Index

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